On The Outside
by Screeching Harmony
Summary: On the outside of the game the public is in a mass panic. The players who logged into SAO the opening morning are now stuck. Everyone is desperate to find way to release them from the death game. Kauze Hatashi, a computer prodigy, was added to the task force in hope that she could find a way to get them home. And she'll do anything it takes, even if it means going into the game.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Heeeey so this isn't my first time writing fanfiction but it is my first time actually publishing it sooooo I may or may not be a little nervous... okay then umm I would really really like some constructive criticism but if you're reading this just so you can flame then leave because I don't want to hear it. For everyone else enjoy. :D**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

"What?"

I nearly spit out my coffee onto the table.

"Yup. It's been confirmed." Kaito nodded at me through the computer screen. "All of the people who logged into SAO yesterday are stuck. Don't you watch the news?" He asked, his brown eyebrows pulling together.

If he was standing in front of me I would've thrown my mug at his face. "Jackass. I don't watch the news it's depressing." I took another sip of my coffee, hoping it would replenish my energy after my all nighter. It burnt my tongue and I yelped. Kaito laughed at me through the computer and I stuck my slightly burnt tongue out at him. "Why are you telling me this anyway? You never contact me unless you need something. You and your stupid company at least."

He sighed and shook his head, a loose brown hair shaking in front of his face. He used his fingers to comb it back. "Listen, the authorities are going to contact you soon, once they figure out that they can't handle this on their own. Kayaba pulled out all the stops. If someone takes off the helmet here it fries your brain, you get hit in the game your brain gets fried." His brown eyes looked dull when they made contact with mine. "They're going to ask you to help, they'll give you access to everything they have on the game and Kayaba. Work with them, you're going to be the only prodigy they have so they're hoping you'll agree to help. Please help."

Something was off. Kaito wouldn't contact me for something like this, he wouldn't care. My brown eyes narrowed. "Kaito… how is your wife?"

Kaito looked a little uncomfortable but nodded, "She's fine."

I nodded back, "And your daughter? Miya was it?" Kaito winced. Bingo. "Is she in SAO?"

He visibly drooped. I wasn't an expert on reading people but the guy was obviously depressed. "Y-yes. She was so excited when she got the game… I…" He looked at me, his eyes were very dark. "Please help her."

"I planned on it from the start. I want you to do something for me though." I set my coffee down on the table.

Kaito nodded almost eagerly. "Yes, yes. Anything."

That's what I needed. "Since your company is so huge in the advertising business I want you to put out warnings to make sure that everyone who logged into SAO gets found. They can't stay in their homes without treatment for long. Alright? And I also want to make sure that we have enough room for all the SAO people to stay. I don't care if it means a new wing in the hospital, it needs to be done free of charge. Some families won't be able to pay for it, see if you can get the funds from Kayaba's bank account. My last demand, find somebody who can keep the public upbeat about their chances in the game. Motivational speaker I suppose. If these families don't have any hope of its members returning things could go ugly fast."

Kaito nodded at me and began tapping at his screen madly. I paused, "And Kaito?" I waited until he paused to look at me. "You need to keep it together. You are now the face of this new campaign, if you don't believe in their chances people will see it in your eyes. You have to believe it yourself. Do you understand me?"

After a slight hesitation he nodded. I returned it. "Tell your wife I'm on the job."

Just as I was about to end the call Kaito stopped me, "You know every time I call you, you tell me you're not a people person. I beg to differ."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Agree to disagree. Bye Kaito."

"Goodbye Kauze." The screen went black.

I sighed and leaned back in my desk chair. So everybody who logged into SAO was now trapped into the virtual game. You die there, you die here. I spun in my chair and pushed myself over to my mini fridge. The coffee maker sat on top of it, the pot still mostly full but I ignored it. Instead I opened the fridge door, sliding an energy drink out of the side and popping the tab. I took a sip of the fizzy drink and braced my feet on the wall behind the fridge. I pushed off the wall, zooming across the room to my desk. I took another sip from the can before setting it down.

"Alright, first things first; how much of a chance do these guys really have of surviving in the game…" It only took a few minutes to find some illegal videos from the beta gamers. "Sword skills, HP bars, XP. Ugh, this is going to give me a headache."

The phone rang and I tapped on it after seeing who was calling. "Hello!" I said in an overly cheery voice.

Police Commissioner Hibiki Kayata sighed. "Yes Kauze, hello. I hate to ask you to do this but-"

I continued typing on my keyboard, my eyes searching for anything that could help me in my search. "You need me to use my amazing hacking skills that you asked me never to use again to get into the SAO game to see if I can help out?"

I heard him sigh again. "I see you've already heard."

"Yes, a friend of mine contacted me asking if I could help when you called. I told him I would. He's now on public handling, I told him to find someone to do motivational speeches. It's a fight on this side too. His company's gonna' help with finding people who logged into SAO and transporting them to somewhere we can keep an eye on them. As rude as it sounds, dead bodies start to stink after a few days."

Kayata grunted, "You're right. That was rude."

"Sorry, my brain's in several different places right now. Kaito, the one with the company, give him access to Kayabas bank account. Kayaba can pay for everything we need regarding this situation. Oh and hey I need contact information of the people who made the Nerve Gear and all of Kayabas coworkers."

"All of Kayabas coworkers are in police custody; they're being interrogated as we speak."

I cursed, "I need some of them. Find out who was in charge of creating the game code for everything, including the players' avatars and the game system…" I tapped on a few more links. "The Cardinal system. Anybody who helped in the process of making it, I don't care how small. Find those people and clear them as soon as you can. I don't care if you need to send them over here with a police escort, whatever it takes."

Kayata snorted, "Are you telling me how to do my job Hatashi?"

"No, I'm telling you what I need to try and help save peoples' lives." I snapped at him. "Oh and I need a master copy of the game."

"Don't you dare think about going in there, Hatashi." Kayata growled at me.

I snorted, "Wouldn't dream of it. I'd die in a minute, trust me. I'm useless."

"Alright," he said in a gruff voice, "I'm sending you the links for the Nerve Gear people." Another tab popped up on the second monitor. I clicked on it and it opened to give the contact info I needed.

"Thanks," I said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I need to go."

"Update me when you get the chance Hatashi." The call ended.

I set up a call to the Nerve Gear people, "Hello?" A tired female voice came through the speakers.

"Hello. I'm temporally on the police force, I need you to connect me to whoever helped create the Nerve Gear." All business baby.

"Right away." The line switched and a different voice sounded through the room. "Hello?"

"Hello. Am I speaking to a creator of the Nerve Gear?"

"Listen, if you're going to complain about the Nerve Gear being a problem-"

"Not by a long shot buddy. First off; congrats on making one that works. Second, I need the blue prints for the Nerve Gear. And third, I need to know if you can make a version of the Nerve Gear that doesn't include the fry-your-brain piece." I took a sip of my drink.

The man on the other end stuttered for a moment before regaining his senses. "Who exactly am I speaking to again?"

I felt the need to dip into an over the top bow even though he couldn't see me. "I'm sorry, that was so rude of me! I am Kauze Hatashi! Fifteen year old prodigy in just about everything electronic you could think of!"

The man stuttered again, "Kauze Hatashi? You're kidding!"

"Nope! So about those things I needed…" Another sip turned into a couple gulps.

"I'll send the blue prints over right away and it may take a while to even come up with a prototype for a new Nerve Gear set but I'll do what I can." A pause. "You're not thinking of going into the game are you?"

I sighed, "Not really, this is sort of a back up, for my back up, for my back up. But it's necessary so if you could please start on that for your next project it would really help me."

"I will."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, "Thank you and please don't tell anyone I asked for this."

"I won't as long as you do all you can to help get those people out of there."

I set down my drink, "I will."

"Thank you. Good bye Ms. Hatashi."

"Goodbye." The line went dead and the phone hung itself up.

From there on I zoned out on the computer, tuning out everything around me. I went for all the angles I could think of on the internet, throwing out anything I deemed useless. My brain started to go blank, processing information within seconds and finding anything give me a lead. Where was Kayaba during all this? In hiding obviously but what would he be doing? Watching the game? If so, then how? Did he have something set up to where he could watch multiple things at once? Then a thought occurred to me that nearly made me trip up in my typing. _What if he was in the game?_ My typing sped up. If Kayaba had a master copy he could watch from the real world, but if he created an account before everyone else on that master copy of the game he would have a superior account to everyone else. Admin privileges. _Crap._

A finger tapped on my shoulder. I squeaked like a little girl and toppled out of my chair. My head hit the floor hard and I sat up with a headache. A cackle sounded from where I sat before and I instantly recognized the culprit.

I glared at the redhead that now sat in my chair, grinning down at me. "Honestly, What do you want Yuu?"

She tapped me on the head with her finger, "Really is that how you're going to greet me? Even after I took time out of my busy schedule to come see you?" she taunted.

I snorted, "What busy schedule? You're a writer, you don't have a schedule."

"Mmmm." She spun in circles in the chair. "I got a call from the Police department today. They said you were helping out with the SAO situation."

"Well I was 'till you scared the crap outa' me." I stood even though it made me dizzy. "Now would you move so I can go back to helping?"

Yuu stood so suddenly I didn't see it coming and leaned in to look at me, she was so close I almost had to cross my eyes to look at her. Her tone was serious when she spoke, "How in the hell are you supposed to help anyone if you're dead on your feet? When was the last time you got over five hours of sleep?"

Her question caught me so off guard that I blurted out the truth before I could stop myself. "Last Tuesday?"

"So you've been up for over a week without a decent amount of sleep?"

I nodded no point in even trying to lie to this crazy woman. She scowled at me and grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me out of my computer room. She led me through the halls of my house and into my bedroom. The crazy lady had me change into my pajamas in the connecting bathroom and then insisted on tucking me in.

We were basically sisters so her coming by to force me to sleep about once a week was usual and of course I never realized how tired I really was until she actually got me into bed. When she started singing is when my eye lids started to droop. I vaguely hoped my computer saved my work and that Yuu didn't touch it before I slipped into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Five follows and one fav I'm freaking out a little :) you guys have made me so happy seriously. Gihihi. So heres the next chapter!**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

When I opened my eyes and glanced at the clock I ignored it for a moment. I'm not really a morning person…at all. Ever. I'm serious. Then everything from yesterday hit me like a fifty pound brick; SAO, people trapped, police department, Nerve Gear, Kayaba.

I jumped out of bed and scrambled into my computer room. I hit my desk chair with a flying leap and zoomed across the room to my desk. I nearly hit the desk and my fingers were already on the keyboard, I had seventy-two emails that mattered. My email always seemed to leak out somehow and I have a whole arsenal of depressing emails from people asking me to help the people stuck in SAO. I figured it wouldn't hurt and sent out a mass email saying I would do my best but that I was only human.

I figured it would hurt less if I took the hit rather than the several industries that helped Kayaba in the first place, though that would happen anyways at first I could take the hit later if this did turn south. Though frankly I'd rather be optimistic about the situation. I could handle people being pissed at me.

"Okayokayokay. Just bring up the stuff that I did yesterday… Aaaaand… wait what did I need again?" I paused as I searched my brain. "The master copy! Yeahyeahyeah! Hey wasn't Hibiki supposed to send me the master copy… maybe it's in all those emails I didn't check…" a few clicks with the mouse. "Grrr! There's too many of these! Okay I think it's time to launch that new program." I pulled up another screen and typed in a few commands. "Alright here we go. Kat can you hear me?"

A female voice came through my speakers, "Yes I can hear you. What do you need Kauze?" I had been working on a new program that could keep pace with me and my spastic brain. I jumped around so often that I couldn't work with anyone so I made a program that could keep up with me, so I could basically work with someone. She was capable of most human emotions along with sarcasm and a few other things because I was bored. I basically gave her a personality. A little crazy yes, but it was mostly because I had nothing to do and this is what happens when you only had contact with two or three people, you go crazy.

"Are all your systems up and running Kat?" I asked excitedly.

"Mm-hm. I could run a diagnostics check on them if you think I should."

I shook my head, "No need Kat. Now can you go through my emails and look for anything from Hibiki? And then once you're done start up some research on the Sword Art Online thing that's going on. It should be all over the internet." I pulled up my work from the night before, I couldn't do much until I got the master copy but I could definitely look up on how some of the gaming systems worked.

"Alright, I'm on it. It may take a minute to find the email though. You should really clean this out." She said wirily.

"Heyheyhey! I don't have the time! I have other stuff to do!" Great now I'm arguing with a computer. Did I really design her like this?

"Yes, yes you did."

I jumped. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yup." Kat said in confirmation.

"Damn. I really need to stop that."

"I found the email. Want me to pull it up for you?" She asked.

"No," I said, "Just read it out to me."

"Okay lazy. He said he should have someone over with it at about eight, along with the people you asked for. He said they're coming with a police escort though."

"What time is it?" My eyes zipped over some tips by game creators.

"It's eight now."

I jumped from my chair. "What? It's eight already? It was six forty-five when I woke up!"

"You tend to tune things out when you type did you know that?"

"Shut up!" I yelled at my computer as I rushed back to my room to put some clothes on. I usually just stayed in my pajamas all day since I worked from home. I got some pants and a sweatshirt on just as the door bell rang. I pulled my hair out of the back as I ran to the front door.

I yanked the door open surprising the six people outside. Two of the game creators and four police officers stood at my door, startled. The officers collected themselves. The one who I'm guessing had run the door bell spoke. "We're from Commissioner Kayata. We've brought the people you requested."

I winced the cleared my throat, "Uhh… do you all, um have to stay?"

He nodded tersely, "Yes. The Commissioner said we were to stay with these two."

I glanced at their faces. One was a middle aged woman with short brown hair and glasses, her eyes were bloodshot. The other was an older man with blonde hair and bags under his brown eyes. He met my eyes and I gave him a smile, attempting to encourage him.

Inside I was bashing Hibiki on the head have so many people come over here. I didn't like being around so many people. If there were any more than three people in the room with me I'd start to get uncomfortable. Five people and I'd start fidgeting; at about nine I'd start to freak out. Last time this happened I was eleven at an event and I panicked, it took Yuu forever to find me curled up in a ball outside behind the bushes. I don't care what Kaito said! I really don't like people!

I sighed and let them in the door. They followed me back into my computer room and the guards moved around the room to stand in the corners as well as they could, seeing as the walls were mostly filled with shelves of electronics. One of them clearly said to the workers, "Don't try anything."

I held in my disgust, these two were obviously distraught over the situation and these guards were being nothing but rude to them. Assholes! I turned to the workers, "Ahh hold on a sec." There were two closets in the room, one was a pale blue and the other was a bright orange. I headed to the blue one. Out of it I shoved two rollie chairs and dragged out a foldable plastic table. The older man helped me set it up when I couldn't get one of the legs to unhook. "Thanks." I told him.

"No problem, miss." He replied.

I handed the phone as they sat down. "Call in something to eat. Whatever you want seriously, even the places that don't deliver. Just tell them you're calling for Kauze Hatashi and they'll get it."

The man stared at the phone for a minute glancing at me as I pulled a soda from the fridge for myself and offered them something. The woman took some of the coffee from the pot atop the fridge. The man spoke, "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I haven't eaten yet anyways and I'd feel like a jerk if I ate in front of you guys. That and I can't cook. Last time I tried I nearly blew up the kitchen." I snorted, "Never again."

The woman smiled at me. "By the way, I'm Chiyo Fujioka." She waved at the man next to her who was placing his order. "This is Martin Shore. He's American, came over here to work with.."

"Kayaba," I finished for her. She nodded mutely. "We can't be afraid of his name," I told her. "If we do that it means that he's already won." She looked at me surprised before a form of confidence began to fill her eyes. I smiled, well I needed fighting spirit.

"Hey Kauze, are you done yet? I'm bored." Kat's voice flitted through the speakers, startling the others in the room.

I turned my head toward the computer. "Did you already research everything on SAO? I really don't want to have to explain it all."

"Yes and now I'm bored!" she whined, drawling out the last word.

I rubbed at my head, I needed food. "Shut up before I turn you off you stupid program."

Chiyo gasped, "A program?"

I nodded, "Uh yeah. I get kinda bored. So I made a program that basically has a personality. Though I don't know why I made her so annoying."

Kat gave a giggle and I winced, "She still needs some work."

Martin handed the phone to Chiyo. "I made a part of the game, something similar to that. She wasn't really a part of the cardinal system though. She monitored the mental states of all the players. So if any of them were mentally sick and playing the game we could get them help. She would go to them and keep them happy, a program made to feel human emotions. I don't know if Kayaba has shut her down or not though."

"Mental states," I muttered. What if the system was still up, the one that monitored the people's mental states, it could probably give me some insight… Maybe I could worm into the system from there. "Martin? Did you say that the Cardinal system gave orders to your system?"

He nodded, "Yes. The Cardinal system gives orders to the one that I created. I called it Yuui."

"Yuui," I smiled, "That's cute."

He smiled back at me, "Yes, it's the name of my granddaughter."

I snapped my fingers when I remembered something. "Oh, yeah! Do you guys have the master copy of the game I asked for?"

One of the guards came forward with a disk and I grabbed it from him, and slid the disk into my computer. "And the fun begins!" I yelled excitedly taking a sip of my soda. The drink fizzed in my mouth and as it slid down my throat. "Mr. Martin, where was Yuui placed in the system?"

He cleared his throat, "You could try the immortal objects or the player's assistance. Other than that I don't know where she would be."

I smiled at his wording. "Is she like you granddaughter?"

I must've caught him off guard because he didn't answer for a minute. "Y-yes. Her personality is biased off my granddaughters as well. She could always make you smile no matter how bad things seemed."

"She sounds like a sweet little girl. Hey is this your programming?" He wheeled his chair over next to mine and set my phone down on my desk. Huh, they must've been done calling in food.

Martin nodded, "Yes, that's the coding I used in my program. How did you access it so fast?"

I tried to explain, "I think of a program like a big castle, your program was like the under belly of it. So instead of trying to go through the walls like most others do I dig a tunnel underneath then worm my way around inside the program…" Silence. "Did that make any sense out loud? 'Cause it worked in my head."

Martin shook his head, "No, no that made sense. I just can't believe how fast you processed everything."

My face went a little red. I really can't take complements.

The next six and a half hours included this; twenty-one sodas (seventeen for me, two for Chyio, one for Martin, and one for one of the guards), eight bathroom trips (should _not_ have had that much soda), seven boxes worth of takeout food (what? Police people get hungry too), two more foldout tables and four more chairs from around the house (ha, I knew they wouldn't last all day, suckers), fifty-two smart ass comments from Kat (and I threatened to shut her down all of those fifty-two times), two fits of rage at the computer (hey I have my moments, just saying), one surprise visit from Yuu (too many people!), a food fight that I may or may not have started (Yuu was sooo asking for it), a request to do an interview about the SAO thing (how did they find out I was working on this? It's only been a day!), Chyio's patience showing through as she tried to show me how to navigate in the outer wall of the Cardinal system (I am so sorry about that, I am the worst person to teach), and seven smiles by the end of the day (not including Yuu, who was always smiling and Kat who didn't have a face).

All in all, I think it was a rather successful day.

When everyone left I let out a sigh, it was fun hanging around them but that was still too many people in my brain. I flopped onto the couch and Yuu sat in the chair across from me. "Well that was fun!" She grinned. "I'm honestly surprised you could stand that many people in the room with you."

I gave a wiry smile, "So am I." I yawned. "'Mm tired." I mumbled.

Yuu caught my yawn, "Don't do that." She stretched as best she could in the chair, her legs dangled off the sides. "Screw it," she mumbled, "I'm crashing here for the night."

"Okay." I curled up into my ball and a thought hit me in the face as I fell asleep. Every time Yuu spent the night she tried to stretch out in the small chair while I curled up into a ball on the big couch. We should really fix that…


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Nothing to do on a sunday. Here's another chapter. XP**

Chapter 3

I woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. My eyes snapped open and the only thought in my brain was food. My nose lead me to the kitchen and I busted out in laughter. Yuu stood in the middle of the kitchen in pajama shorts and a tank top for her spare clothes she always had over here, but what got me was the apron that she wore. It had a picture of Daffy Duck on the front and next to him it read _"Seriously I don't know when that UFO landed here & dumped all these stupid people, but apparently they aren't coming back for them."_

Yuu grinned at me as she held up a spatula. "I'm spending the day with you today!"

I snorted, "You're just avoiding your editor."

She shrugged her shoulders as she dished me up a plate. I wasn't aloud near the stove. "Eh, maybe I am avoiding him because my next book is due the day after tomorrow."

I nearly dropped the cups I had grabbed, "Yuu!"

She shrugged again. "He'll live. Let's eat!"

I shook my head at her and filled the cups. I sat down at the table with her and I heard the phone ring. I rose to answer it but Yuu waved me off. "Don't bother it's been ringing since five this morning." She shoved a bit of egg in her mouth.

I sat back down. "Who is it?"

"The media." Another bite. "They want to interview you. The papers just want you to answer some questions but there have been some requests for live interviews on a few news channels."

I took a bite of the eggs. Mmm. "How do you know all this?" I added some salt and pepper.

Yuu swallowed, "That little girl you made? She's really helpful. After the first phone call I had her check your emails and she sorted out all the ones that were requesting an interview. It seems a lot of people want you there in person. They're trusting electronics less and less. It's chaos."

"Kat told you that didn't she." I deadpanned. Yuu could barely manage anything other than writing and emails.

"Yeah, she did."

I shoved the rest of the eggs in my mouth, chewed and swallowed before slamming my head on the table. "Could you just handle setting everything up for me? I'm really not cut out for this."

"Do that anymore and you'll get a headache. I'll start making the calls right after this."

An hour later I was in my computer room and Yuu walked in talking a mile a minute. All I got of it was papers, websites and that she was very, very, very sorry. She kept blabbering on about some interview until she realized I wasn't listening. "Are you listening?"

I snorted, "Well I hear you talking."

She groaned, "Listen, I set it to where you don't have to answer any questions for the papers, but the TV interviewers were pretty insistent. It's up to you on whether you can do them, but I think it's a bad idea. You freaked out yesterday with only six people in the room."

"It was seven, for the record." I rubbed at my temples.

"Still," she pushed. "It's not going to be just a few people, there's going to be tons of people there. Have you _seen_ how many people work backstage on these things? _Tons_, it won't even take a minute-"

"I know that!" I snapped. I paused and took a breath in an effort to not snap at my adoptive sister. "I… I don't know…what I'm thinking. I _know_ that I can't handle that many people but… I'm going to do it." The finality in my voice kept Yuu from arguing. I was thankful. It was painfully obvious to me that I wouldn't be able to handle being indoors with as many people as there were going to be in that building. I shoved the keyboard forward and my head met my desk. Why would I want to go to a place that I knew would be _packed_ with people? Why would I willingly put myself in a position where I would have a panic attack?

I sat up and shook my head. I didn't have time for this. Maybe I should just go see a psychiatrist or something. Whatever, I needed to get back to work. "Kat, scan for any ways into the program from here. I'm going to go take a shower."

"Alrighty!" Kat chirped. "You're the boss!"

I shook my head and stood up. "If there isn't anything you can go ahead and shut down." I left my computer room and slowly made my way to my room.

I paused in the living room where Yuu was talking on the phone. She waved me over and covered the mic, "Where you going?"

"Shower," I told her.

She nodded, "Want help with your hair afterward?"

I smiled, "That would be amazing." She nodded and I proceeded to the shower.

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><p>The next hour and a half was heavenly and only came with one interruption.<p>

Yuu popped her head into the bathroom, "Do you want to get it over with? There's an opening on tonight's news show if you want it."

I sighed and leaned against the wall. "Yeah I'll take it. But only if you set out some clothes for me."

She snorted, "With your wardrobe? I'll need to go shopping."

"Ha ha," I said dryly.

Her head disappeared from the door. Another forty-five minutes in the shower and I was a prune. I stepped out of the shower, dried myself off and got dressed. After wrangling with my hair for the next twenty minutes (I'm not kidding), I gave up and stared into the mirror. Silver-grey eyes stared back at me, and my wet jet black hair dangled below my knees. I really liked my long hair, that or I was too lazy to go get it cut. It was one of those. I sighed; we would have to do something with my hair. Ugh, maybe I should just cut it. I draped the towel around my shoulders in a half-hearted attempt to keep my clothes from getting wet and left the bathroom.

I stepped back in shock when I opened the bathroom door; this was a war zone. Yuu had my closet torn apart, my clothes were _everywhere_. The bed, the floor, even on the ceiling fan. Jezz, this lady is _insane._

"You have nothing in here! Nothing! Do you understand me?" Yuu screamed from the closet. I dogged a flying sweatshirt. She walked out of the closet holding a hanger, a hanger that held a dress I had hoped I had hid, damn. "What is this?"

I shrugged, picking up some clothes from the floor in bad attempt to ignore her.

"Don't you just shrug at me! This is exactly what we needed!" Yuu cleared a spot on the bed and laid the dress down. It was a dark purple, with long sleeves and a lace on the rim. Thankfully it wasn't the itchy kind. It went down to about my knees when I had it on. I don't know why she wanted me to wear it, it seemed like it wasn't suited for an interview but Yuu insisted and who am I to deny a crazy woman her chance to dress me up? …I hate this.

Another two and a half hours filled with hair driers, brushes, makeup and a bunch of other thing I didn't know the names of. Though she did give me food and let me have a couple sodas so I lived through the torture. I don't know what she did to my hair to get it all on the top of my head but she did and it looked good, so I knew it was going to be a pain to get out.

Sadly we couldn't take Yuu's bike due to the fact that I was in a dress (damn it), so we had to take the jeep that was sitting in my garage collecting dust because I couldn't drive yet. Now let it be said that Yuu drives like a maniac and I was already nervous about being around so many people. Her driving did _not_ help. By the time we got into the studio parking lot and out of the car I was stiff as a freaking board.

I plugged my ears in and followed Yuu through the parking lot; we flashed our visitors ID at a security guard and he let us into a building that I'm assuming was where the news took place. My brain went on autopilot as it attempted to tune out the awareness of all the people in the room.

Someone bumped my arm and my brain nearly shut down on itself. I kept my eyes trained on Yuu's ponytail, ignoring all of the chaos in my peripheral vision.

Basically I had to rely on Yuu getting me through this crowd of people. Of course for most it wouldn't feel like that many people but I was having trouble staying calm. I ducked my head, turned up my music and tucked my arms in, trying to keep from bumping into people. I watched Yuu's heels as I walked and ran into her when she stopped. Of course it didn't faze her, love this girl.

Yuu began to walk again and I followed after her like a little puppy and she led me through a door way. I watched her feet turn and felt her tap on my shoulder. I flinched and internally yelled at myself for doing so.

I peeked through my hair at her and nearly jumped when I caught her frowning at me. _Idiot!_ I yelled at myself. _It's just Yuu! Why the hell are you flinching? I thought I was over this! At least with Yuu, DAMNIT!_

I pulled out my ears, and put them away. I could make it without them for now. I looked around; it almost looked like a last minute throw together of a dressing room.

"I had this set up for you." My head whipped back to Yuu, her face held no expression. "It took a little bit of explaining but I got it set up. You'll be staying in here until you go on. If you feel like braving the room with the rest of them then go for it."

I closed my eyes and tried to control my heart rate. "Sorry, I'm just a little jumpy."

She snapped her fingers at me and I looked up. She gave me a smile, "I know but you can handle it."

"And if I can't?"

Yuu grinned, "Don't pass out on stage."

I socked her in the shoulder, "Jerk!"

She let out a laugh, "But you feel better now right?" I smiled.

"Knock, knock!" called a cheery voice.

I jumped, and turned to the door. A blonde haired woman had poked her head in the door. She smiled at me. "Hi, I'm Claudia Jentrie, the newswoman. I'll be doing your interview. I just wanted to talk with you before things start to get crazy around here."

_That wasn't crazy?_

"Hey," Her hands dropped onto my shoulders and I flinched. She looked me in the eye with a serious look. "You are an amazing girl. Trying to help all those people stuck inside that game. Having that much weight on your shoulders and being so young, makes you amazing. And don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

"T-Thank you." The words barely made it out of my mouth before she started to talk again.

"Oh and by the way, you look amazing in that dress. The color really suits you." She smiled at me as she headed for the door, "Somebody will come get you when we want you." She left and the door shut.

I blinked, "Wait, what just happened?"

Yuu laughed behind me, "You got a compliment, several of them actually."

I shook my head. "Nope, that was just weird." I sat in one of the chairs and began to fidget. I think Yuu got tired of my nervousness and she told me to pull out my iPod. I did and I plugged in my head phones. I leaned my head back and tuned out everything else.

Next thing I know Yuu's tapping on my shoulder. I pulled out my ears.

"They're ready for you." She said.

_Crap._


	4. Chapter 4

**Heeeeeeeey! Hi people! I'm in a very good mood for no apparent reason. I have random question for anybody who can anwser. Have you ever been typing on something and the spell check popped up saying that you spelled "it's" wrong? Even though_ every other time you type it, it's correct._ Yeah I had a very long argument with my computer about that... **

**Oh yeah and about updates - reviews fuel the soul. (I didn't come up with that sadly.) My updating secduale is non-existant, seriosly, I'm amazed at my self that I even got this far (it's the reviews).**

**Sorry about that, on with the story! Hope you like it!**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

I felt like I was being squeezed into a box that only had one opening and the world had randomly decided to stare through that opening at me. Though this wasn't random and the back wall is more of a circle than – what am I talking about? Isn't there an interview going on right now? Crap she's looking at me. Did she ask a question?

"Huh?" I said dumbly.

Claudia laughed, "Are you nervous?"

I nodded mutely.

"That's alright," she told me. She slid a note card over to me and I quickly read it over. _Just pretend you're only talking to me. I'm the only one here._ I looked up at her and she smiled kindly at me.

"Okay since many of our viewers are curious as to what's going on with the SAO problem, I'm going to get started with the questions."

I gave a small smile, "I'll answer as best I can."

Claudia glanced down at the papers in front of her. "It's common knowledge that Akihiko Kayaba disappeared after the opening day of Sword Art Online. Do you have any clues as to what his wear bouts are?"

I shook my head, "No, and that's the reason we have the police, isn't it? To find the bad guy? Plus if I did, I couldn't say anything about it considering most are very angry with him, I could get in huge trouble. I hope you understand." Damn, I sound professional.

"Of course there are some things that can't be released to the public and we understand that. Now, the question has come up several times. Is Kayaba really working alone? Or did he have help from the people he worked with?"

I let out a short laugh, getting more comfortable with talking to Claudia. "You seem fond of asking me questions that I can't really give a legit answer to. The police are investigating all of Kayaba's co-workers, but in my opinion I think Kayaba was working alone. I don't think anybody else knew what he had planned. And for the people who angry I hope that they won't blame any of Kayaba's co-workers for what has happened. They're not bad people; they just ended up in the middle of everything."

Claudia smiled, "Well that certainly was an opinion. Something a lot of people are wondering; what are you doing to help? We already know that you are a prodigy in electronics so how are you using your gift to help the players stuck in SAO?"

I took a minute to consider the question, I couldn't actually say too much without getting my ass handed to me by the Commissioner. "I can't really reveal much regarding what I'm doing, as it might put people in danger. I'm attempting to –ah, how do I put this- I'm attempting to log out the players without harming them."

"I see. Onto a little harder subject, the players themselves. When do you think they'll wake up?" Claudia's fist clenched in her lap and a thought crossed my mind. _Was someone that Claudia knew in the game?_

I blinked at the idea, well that was new. Claudia wants some hope, just like everyone else watching this newscast. I sat up a little straighter. "There are two possibilities here." _Assuming that they actually wake up. No; good thoughts, good thoughts. They will wake up._ "Either the players beat the game or I figure a way to successfully log everyone out." That came out wrong. Jezz, I'm basically telling to put a ton of faith in me. Smooth Kauze.

Claudia blinked at me for a moment before a smile grew on her face. "That's good to hear." She cleared her throat and glanced down at the papers in front of her. Her brows pulled together, she looked up at me as if she was apologizing. "Some people have said that you come off as a kid who doesn't know anything and is too overconfident in her abilities. What do you have to say to those people?"

I was a little shocked, people really thought that about me. I frowned slightly and met Claudia's eyes. She felt bad, so I grinned at her. "Honestly they can say what they want, I don't really care. I know what my abilities are and I know how to use them. I'm confident in my abilities and if I'm not then I would second guess my every move and that could get someone killed. Just because I'm younger doesn't mean that I'm not as good as the forty-five year old that lives down the street and can do the same things I can. The only difference between us is that I can learn a little faster." Huh, that came out a lot nicer than I expected.

It took Claudia a moment to adjust to my answer, "Well…" she laughed, "I really don't have a response for that." I smiled. "Okay then, you mentioned something earlier about the players clearing the game. Could you explain that?"

I nodded, "To clear the game – actually lemme explain it this way. There are one hundred floors and just as many dungeons. To clear the floor you have to defeat the boss that's located in every dungeon. Once you do that you can move to the next floor. Once you defeat the boss on floor one hundred the game will be cleared. Does that make any sense?"

Claudia had paled slightly, "Yes. Now my question; how much of a chance do you think the players have in the actual game?"

I smiled, "I believe that they have a high probability of beating the game and returning to us here in this world."

"Thank you, Kauze."

"You're welcome." I said as genuinely as I could muster.

Claudia looked straight at the camera, "Well you heard her; the players in SAO will be coming back to us. I'm Claudia Jentrie, signing off."

"And we're off." I heard the camera man say.

I slumped in my chair and leaned my head back. "I want some food." I moaned. I might've just told a whole ton of people off about me not knowing anything but that doesn't mean I'm not a teenager. My thoughts are mostly consumed by computers and food.

Yuu appeared in my line of vision. "You did better than I expected."

"How so?" I asked absent mindedly.

"Well you didn't throw up."

I jumped up and sat backwards in my chair so I could see her, "Jerk!"

Yuu laughed, "Come on let's go get some food."

I nearly fell out of my chair, fumbling to get my headphones out of my jacket pocket. "Hold on a sec Yuu." I scanned around me looking for Claudia, trying to ignore how many people there were. When I spotted her blonde hair moving away from me I sprinted after her. I heard Yuu yell at me but I was attempting to tune out the sound of people talking. When I caught up to Claudia I grabbed her arm. She turned, startled. "I need to talk to you." I forced out.

Thankfully Claudia noticed my discomfort and moved us to an area with less people. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I know I'm being rude and a little pushy but do you by any chance know someone that's trapped in the game?"

Claudia sucked in a breath. "Y-yes. My husband, Eric."

I nodded, "First; he is going to come back to you. You have to believe it. And second, could I have your cell number?"

She asked me as to why I wanted it and I shook my head, there was no way I could tell her. She wrote her number down a scrap of paper I handed her and returned it to me. I grinned at her, "Thanks."

I took off to wait for Yuu outside who was probably going to kill me as soon as she found me. Oh well.

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><p>"I can't believe you did that! Running off! You could've had a panic attack and I wouldn't have been able to find you!" Yuu ranted as we pulled into the parking lot of one of the only restaurants I could actually eat at. I don't know if it was the open space of the place, or if it was just so out of the way that no one really ate there. Yuu and I were good friends with the owner and he had once joked that we were half the reason he kept the place open.<p>

"What if you were kidnapped and tortured?" Wait was Yuu talking that whole time? How did she get from running off to being tortured? Better to stop her here.

I laughed, "Whoa, whoa, Yuu slow down." I said as I walked backwards so I could face her. "How did we get to being tortured?"

Yuu was quite for a moment, "I dunnow! Just…just don't scare me like that again!"

I grinned at her, "I'll try to keep the scares to a minimum." _I hope._

Yuu pulled the door open and I ducked under her arm to get inside. Yuu sighed and smiled at me, much better. I walked up to Nagihiko at the desk. "Hello good sir."

Nagi smiled at me, "Hey chief." His eyes trailed up to Yuu. "And hello to Yuu too."

Yuu snorted, "Oh jezz. That was horrible."

"Yeah that one was pretty bad." I commented. "I'm gonna go sit down. You two… talk." I skipped away leaving no room for protest. Everybody here has been playing matchmaker with these two since they met. The whole restaurant is in on it. Those two had been flirting with each other since they met five years ago while they were in school. Then Nagi started working here and Yuu found out this was the only place I felt comfortable actually _going to. _

Nagi was also one of the few people I actually had contact with, mostly him asking me about Yuu (it's adorable) but its contact none the less. Nagi had Light brown hair and these weird-ish caramel eyes. They're really pretty and I've stated the fact before (the tips of his ears get all red, it's hilarious).

A blonde haired waiter slid into the seat across from me. "Hey chief heard you were on the news this morning."

I snorted at him, "Like I'd be up and dressed at this time if I wasn't."

Laxus shrugged, "Fair point. You two want your usual?"

I shrugged back, "Eh, sure why not. 'Cept I wanna coffee and some toast too. You know with the little jelly packets."

Laxus snorted, "You want to know something funny?" I nodded for him to continue. "You come here so often that all of our cooks have your order memorized. All I have to write is Kauze and they know what to make. Same with your sis, except we write Nagi's love," he snickered.

I almost choked on air as I laughed. Laxus stood with a smug grin, "Gotcha."

"Genius," I giggled.

Laxus dipped into an over-exaggerated bow. "By the master herself, such a compliment is an honor."

I burst into a new fit of giggles. He stood and ruffled my hair (or attempted to since it was up in some painful up do), usually I would flinch but this guy did that so often since I was eleven that it stopped bothering me. Instead I shook my fist at him as he walked away. "Don't touch my hair!" Eh, he was kind of like my older brother that I never had.

Laxus spun around to face me as he walked, "Oh and by the way chief! You look adorable in that dress!"

I lunged out of my seat to give chase to the evil blonde only to be caught by Yuu. "Evil, you're all evil. Thwarting me with your devious plans."

Nagi chuckled, "Well I wouldn't go _that _far."

I struggled to release myself from Yuu's grip. Was she always this strong? …Probably. Yuu put me down in the booth and I pouted at her. She returned it with a grin and I stuck my tongue out at her.

The rest of our meal consisted of awkward flirting, a hyper me (coffeecoffeecoffee), me trying to stab Laxus with a spoon (_that_ was interesting), some soup, a salad on Laxus' head (courtesy of Yuu), me stealing Laxus' pen to write down some random code on a napkin (I would have to see if it worked later), and twenty-seven odd stares from the people in the booth near us. I kinda pity them, we're really loud.

Nagi waved at us as we left, "Bye chief, later Yuu."

Laxus popped up next to Nagi, "Later chief. See ya' Yuu." He turned and looked back at the kitchen. "Hey, they're leaving!" he yelled.

A collective, "Bye chief!" along with a, "What? Our entertainment's leaving?" came from the kitchen.

I laughed, "Bye guys!"

They always knew how to cheer me up.


End file.
